Earlier this month, the House Armed Services Committee brought the country closer to requiring women to register for a potential draft when they adopted an amendment to the annual defense bill expanding registration for the Selective Service System.
Lawmakers, including some Republicans, supported the amendment put forward by Democratic Rep. Chrissy Houlahan, 35-24, but many wondered whether it would "stir up conservative opposition to the National Defense Authorization Act."
According to Monday night's vote, however, that turned out not to be the case, as the $768 billion NDAA was easily passed, 316-113, with 135 Republicans joining Democrats in support of the bill.
GOP Congressman Chip Roy appeared on Fox News's Tucker Carlson Monday to excoriate the inclusion of women in a potential draft.
After joking that his wife told him she'd campaign against him if he supported the bill, Roy pointed to the 2015 results of a study done by the Department of Defense.
"That study was to study combat effectiveness," he explained. "They found … that all-male units were more effective 70 percent of the time than mixed-sex units, yet now we have your Congress voting for a National Defense Authorization Act with 135 Republicans…voting in favor of it that would put women into combat."
He made clear he wasn't talking about women who volunteer for service.
Roy pointed to other concerning items in the bill, such as red flag laws, "green new deal garbage," the teaching of critical race theory, and so on. And yet, the lawmaker said, "Republicans voted for it dutifully."
He surmised the reason is "because of power and the defense industrial complex."
